Re: no title
Not sure where you are from, but in NY, it's a long uphill battle, but can be done. Figure a year or more to get it cleared up. I did it with a motorcycle a while back. It was free and I was too young to know different. Applied for abandoned title, had to send a registered return reciept requested letter to previous owner. Got a bounced reply from the post office, went back to DMV, need to go to a police station to do a VIN check and search, etc. Long story short, I finally got a title after a bit over a year, decided the bike wasn't worth the time I would put into fixing it up - and donated it to the Vietnam Veterans association.
If it's THE boat you want, go for it. If not, look into parting it out to get your money back. Please don't sell it to someone else, or we'll be giving out the same advice to that individual. Good luck with it.